Thursday, October 19, 2006

God told me to skin you alive

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute's (MEMRI) translation of an October 14th speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian strongman is claiming he has a connection with God and that Iran will continue to develop nuclear technology regardless of the West's demands.

"On the nuclear issue, I have said to my friends on many occasions, 'Don't worry. They [i.e. the Westerners] are only making noise.' But my friends don't believe [me], and say, 'You are connected to some place!' I always say: 'Now the West is disarmed vis-à-vis Iran [on the nuclear issue], and does not know how to end this matter [with us].' But my friends say: 'You are uttering divine words! Then they will laugh at us!'

"Believe [me], legally speaking, and in the eyes of public opinion, we have absolutely succeeded. I say this out of knowledge. Someone asked me: 'So and so said that you have a connection.' I said: 'Yes, I have.' He asked me: 'Really, you have a connection? With whom?' I answered: 'I have a connection with God,' since God said that the infidels will have no way to harm the believers. Well, [but] only if we are believers, because God said: You [will be] the victors. But the same friends say that Ahmadinejad says strange things.

"If we are [really] believers, God will show us victory, and this miracle. Is it necessary today for a female camel to emerge from the heart of the mountain* so that my friends will accept the miracle? Wasn't the [Islamic] Revolution [enough of] a miracle? Wasn't the Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini] a miracle?... "

"They (Westerners) did two ugly things. First, they attacked Lebanon in order to extract concessions from us [i.e. Iran]. Second, they took the [nuclear] issue to the [U.N.] Security Council. Of course, now they are sunk in a quagmire, and don't know what to do with us. We, for our part, did not retreat one millimeter. First, because if we retreat [even] a little, that is, if we agree to suspend [uranium enrichment even] for a single day, they will say that the Iranians retreat under pressure. And second, if we do this, they will tell the entire world that the Iranians have finally stopped their [uranium] enrichment. Didn't we stop the enrichment in the previous round [of talks]? What did we gain by that?...

"I say that now, by the grace of God, we have gone most of the way; be confident that they will not dare to attack us."

Remember these quotes the next time you hear of the Libertarians' claims that the conflict in the Middle East is caused by American imperialism, and not a far deeper clash of philosophies. Any individual who claims the caprice of God and acts in a threatening way to prove it needs to have all doubt removed—he needs to be defeated. Iran claims that it is blessed among nations, yet Iran's every action is a curse upon the world.

Will America ever stand up to Iran? Judging by the North Korean nuclear fiasco, this administration will not prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Rather then end a regime that is the fountainhead of militant Islam and holy war, America has instead adopted a policy which will only embolden those who deeply believe that God seeks America's destruction.

And thus one can't escape the nagging question: how can we ever hope to win the war against jihad if Iran is allowed to become a nuclear power—and a permanent jihadist state?

* According to MEMRI, the line about the female camel was a reference to the Islamic belief that Muslim prophet performed a miracle by extracting a female camel from inside a mountain in order to prove the truth of his prophecy (Koran 7:73).